Eli's Plan
by Bucken-Berry
Summary: Post-S12/early S13. Eli is tired of seeing his mommy and daddy so sad, and he decides to do something about it.


A/N: I love E/K and it doesn't get nearly enough attention. So here's a little fic for them. It has fluff mingled in with angst and it's from Eli's POV. Hope you like it!

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><p>I squirm on the bed, waiting for the sun to come up. I've barely slept all night, I'm so excited. I'm going to make breakfast for Mommy and Daddy! I love mornings because it's before Daddy goes to work, usually, and everyone's so happy and we talk lots. As long as no one's sleepy and grouchy, at least. Sometimes my two biggest sisters even eat with us, when they visit, but they're both at college so it's only Mommy, Daddy, Lizzie, Richard, and me.<p>

Mommy and Daddy have both been so sad lately. Daddy says something bad happened at work and he had to hurt someone to stop her from hurting other people. He has bad dreams, sometimes. And he hasn't been going to work either. He says that he took a break from, like when my brother and sisters have time off from school, but then he decided to do something else so he's not going back.

But when my brother and sisters aren't at school, they're happy. They play with me a lot and they watch scary movies all night and then sleep until lunchtime. Daddy doesn't play that much anymore. He's always sad, and when he has his bad dreams he's scared. When I ask him if he watched a scary movie too, he says it's because of what happened with the girl he had to hurt. It scared him.

Mommy is sad a lot too. She loves Daddy and doesn't like when he's sad, so it makes her sad too. I don't like seeing them sad either, and yesterday it started to make me sad with them. I wanted them to cheer up and smile and play with me again. I want Daddy to set me on his shoulders and give me a ride and I want him and Mommy to take me to the park again and push me on the swings and watch me go on the slide, then take me on a walk and sit down with a snack.

When I'm sad, Mommy and Daddy always make me laugh or hug me, but no matter how many hugs I give them they don't smile. I even tried putting on SpongeBob but they didn't laugh.

Last night, when I said my prayers before I went to bed, I asked God for help to cheer them up. And he answered! I know because right when I laid down, I got an idea. I decided I was going to make breakfast for Mommy and Daddy. I got so excited and happy. I love surprises and I know Mommy and Daddy will too.

The sun's up! That means Mommy and Daddy will wake up soon. I hum happily, getting out of bed and tip-toeing to the kitchen. I stop humming, though, since I know I have to be quiet. I don't want anyone to wake up and for the surprise to be ruined.

I can't reach the light switch, so I squint in the dark, grabbing a chair and dragging it to the door. I hope it isn't too loud. Once the light is on, I drag the chair to the counter, trying to be as quiet as possible. I just need everyone to stay asleep for a while. Daddy looked tired when he went to bed last night, so I think he'll stay asleep. But I don't know about Mommy, Richard, or Lizzie.

I stand on the chair, and then I climb to the counter and stand on it to be able to reach the door of the cabinet and open it. I pull out two bowls and plates, and then I go back to the chair and get and two spoons from a drawer. I also walk to the pantry and grab some bread and the box of Frosted Flakes, and some butter and orange juice from the 'fridgerator. I want to cook pancakes or French toast, but I don't know how to do that, so I can only do cereal and toast with butter.

I plug the toaster in and pull two slices of bread from the bag and set them in, pulling the switch down to start it. While I wait, I grab two cups- grown-up cups, not the sippy-cups I use- and fill them with orange juice. I also fill the two bowls with cereal, but not milk yet since I don't want the cereal to get icky.

I bring the butter and plates to the table, and realize that I have nothing to spread the butter on the toast with. Mommy and Daddy say I'm too little to use a knife except the plastic ones, and we don't have any of those. Finally, I decide to use another spoon. That will work, right?

The toast sure is taking a long time. I hope I don't burn it. I hate burned toast! It's icky.

I bounce on my toes, waiting, and climb back on the chair to see how close the toast is to done. It looks a little dark but okay. It'll be done soon, I think. Then I'm going to go wake Mommy and Daddy up. It's Saturday and it's summer, so Richard and Lizzie aren't going to wake up for a long time. It'll be just us.

I'm getting pretty hungry smelling the toast. Oh! I forgot to get anything for myself. I grab another bowl and spoon and bring it to my spot at the table, filling it with cereal too. When the toast is done, I'm going to put another slice of bread in for me.

This has to be how chefs feel when they cook. I think I want to be a chef, because this is so much fun! I wish I had one of those big hats.

Uh-oh. The toast starts to smell burned. I burned the toast! I bite my lip and try to get the toast out, but no matter how hard I push the switch the toaster won't give it up.

"Eli? What are you doing? Get away from there!" Mommy's voice cries. I turn around and see her rushing towards me.

The surprise is all ruined. I burned the toast and now Mommy's here and she's upset. I start to cry, and Mommy hugs me. "What happened, Eli?" she asks softly.

I sniffle. "I was trying to surprise you and Daddy but I messed it all up! I'm sorry, Mommy!"

"Oh, honey, it's okay," she whispers, picking me up. "Don't cry, sweetie. That was very sweet of you. I didn't mean to shout at you, I was just worried you'd get hurt."

Now Daddy is running into the room and the surprise is double-ruined, so I start to cry harder. Now they'll never cheer up.

"What happened, Kath?" Elliot asks worriedly. "Is he hurt?"

"No," Mommy says, rubbing my back. "He says he was trying to surprise us. I think he was trying to make toast, but it burned."

Daddy comes over and hugs both of us. "Hey, don't cry, Eli. It's okay."

"I wanted to make you and Mommy happy again," I say. "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast because you're both so sad, and you always cheer me up when I'm sad but I couldn't cheer you up. I was saying my prayers last night and then God gave me an idea, to surprise you with breakfast to cheer you up. So I poured you cereal and orange juice and tried to make the toast but the toaster wouldn't let it go and it got all burned. I'm sorry!" I cry. "I ruined it!"

"Oh, Eli. Come here, kiddo," Daddy whispers, taking me out of Mommy's arms. "What you did was very sweet, even if it didn't go according to plan. It's the thought that counts and your mom and I appreciate it very much. Don't be sorry, Eli. Never be sorry for trying to do nice things, even if they don't work."

The words make me feel better, and I stop crying. When I look into his face he's- smiling. He's smiling! "So I cheered you up anyway?" I whisper, looking over at Mommy. She's smiling too.

"You did, Eli," Daddy says softly. "You always make me feel better."

"But you and Mommy don't smile anymore," I say. "You're always so sad."

Daddy sighs. "I've been having a hard time, kiddo, I'm not going to lie. What happened when I had to hurt that girl was so sad for me, and I haven't been able to forget it. That's why I'm sad and I have nightmares. But you kids and your mom always make me feel better, even if I don't show it. And your mom is upset because I've been sad, but she loved you and feels happy with you, too," he says. He hugs me tight, looking both happy and sad. "I guess we haven't been doing a good job of showing it, huh?"

"It's okay, Daddy," I whisper. "I love you. You too, Mommy."

Mommy comes over and hugs us. After a while, Daddy sets me down and whispers something into her ear. She nods.

"Eli, go get dressed. We have a surprise of our own for you," Daddy says.

"Okay!" I say, running up the stairs and to my room. I pull my pajamas off and change my underwear, then pull on a t-shirt, jeans, and socks. My shoes are at the front door.

I walk into the hall and see Mommy in Lizzie's room and Daddy in Richard's. I hear some mumbling and then they come back into the hall.

"What's the surprise?" I ask excitedly, rushing to them.

"We're going out to eat!" Daddy says, picking me up again.

"Really?" I ask. I can't believe it- we never go out! They always say it's too expensive. "Really really?"

"Yep," he says, walking down the hall. "As soon as your brother and sister get dressed."

Mommy and Daddy watch Dora The Explorer with me while we wait for Richard and Lizzie. Finally, they're ready too, and we get in the car. After what feels like forever, we arrive at an IHOP.

"Yummy!" I cry, and I jump onto the pavement as soon as Mommy and Daddy get me out of the carseat. We walk in and it smells so good, like always. My tummy growls.

I look at everyone, and they all look happier than they have in forever. Mommy and Daddy are holding hands and smiling, and Richard and Lizzie are making a challenge to see who can eat the most pancakes.

A waitress leads us to a table and I sit in Daddy's lap. I color the pictures on the kid's menu and Daddy reads the menu to me. I decide I want French toast, with milk to drink.

Daddy and Mommy are happy again. I smile so much that my cheeks start to hurt. This is even better than I thought.

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><p>AN: I know Elliot isn't going to all's well that ends well quite that easily, but this is Eli's POV and Eli doesn't know that.

Please review!


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